News

Somalia/Somaliland: Berbera Residents against Habarjeclo's Land-Grabbing

Jan 10, 2015 | Waagacusub Media

Hundreds of families from President Siilaanyo's tribe of Habarjeclo take advantage of the sea-port of Berbera Somaliland, which have resulted anti-Habarjeclo sentiment, reliable sources told…

Myanmar: Opium Turns Hillside Town Into ‘Widow Village’

Jan 10, 2015 | Salai Thant Zin, The Irrawaddy

Kanzam, Chin State — New Year’s Eve passed quietly in Kanzam, a small village in northern Chin State. While other villages in remote Tonzang Township…

Green Star Awards: Nominations Extended to Feb. 15

Jan 9, 2015 | Green Cross, UNEP, and OCHA

The biennial Green Star Awards recognize individuals, organizations, governments and companies who have demonstrated achievements in prevention, preparedness and response to environmental emergencies.

Environmental emergencies result…

Future Wars on Water

Jan 9, 2015 | Dr. Muhammad Yaqoob Bhatti

It has been said that all future wars would be on water disputes. Egypt has already issued an ultimatum of war to Ethiopia in the…

Rebuilding Gaza and the Need to Assess TRW Risks

Jan 9, 2015 | Andrew Garrity

The people of Gaza are facing the colossal task of rebuilding homes, roads and schools following the hostilities between Hamas and the Israeli Defence Forces…

Face-Off: China vs. ASEAN in the South China Sea and Beyond

Jan 9, 2015 | Richard Javad Heydarian, National Interest

By all possible measures, 2014 was a roller-coaster year for East Asia, particularly for the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which…

Liberia: Corruption in Liberia’s Emerging Oil Industry: Role of Timis & AP

Jan 9, 2015 | Front Page Africa

Monrovia - Liberia’s oil industry is being contaminated by the corrupting influences of Frank Timis and his company African Petroleum, an investigation by FrontPage Africa…

Palestine: Storm Adds to Misery of Gaza’s Most Vulnerable

Jan 9, 2015 | Majd al Waheidi and Jode Rudoren, New York Times

As a winter storm continued to pound the Middle East, thousands of Gaza residents whose homes were destroyed or damaged in last summer’s war with…

International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Jordan Valley

Jan 8, 2015 | EcoPeace Middle East

The SIWI / EcoPeace / GNF November 10-12, 2014 "International Conference on Sustainable Development in the Jordan Valley" brought together over one hundred government officials…

Will China Change its South China Sea Approach in 2015?

Jan 8, 2015 | Prashanth Parameswaran

Given the litany of surprises we have witnessed in the South China Sea over the past few years, it would be a fool’s errand to…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Oil Deal Evokes Churchill in Islamic State Battle

Jan 8, 2015 | Selcan Hacaoglu and Zaid Sabah, Bloomberg

Winston Churchill understood the significance of the black stuff seeping to the surface in the Kurdish plains of Mesopotamia when he included the region within…

Iraq: Budget Debates Focus on Revenue Worries

Jan 8, 2015 | Patrick Osgood, Rawaz Tahir, and Ben Van Heuvelen, Iraq Oil Report

Iraq's 2015 draft budget received a second reading in Parliament Wednesday, although concerns over the falling price of oil threaten to delay legislative progress."The most…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Iraq Allowed to Sue Kurds Over Texas Oil Tanker in U.S.

Jan 8, 2015 | Laurel Brubaker Calkins, Bloomberg Businessweek

Iraq’s oil ministry can sue the Kurdistan regional government for possession of 1 million barrels of crude that have waited in a tanker circling off…

Myanmar: Farmers Fleeing Myitsone Dam Face Economic Challenges

Jan 8, 2015 | Eleven Myanmar

Farmers who fled their lands to make way for the Myitsone Dam project are now struggling to earn livelihoods.According to the farmers, although homes, roads…

Iraq/Kurdistan: Dispute Over Tanker's Kurdish Oil Continues in Houston Court

Jan 8, 2015 | Collin Eaton, Houston Chronicle

Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government are still trying to resolve a dispute that for six months has kept a tanker full of Kurdish oil…

Resource Curse: The Twilight of the Resource Curse?

Jan 8, 2015 | The Economist

For decades commodity prices have shaped Africa’s economic growth. The continent is home to a third of the planet’s mineral reserves, a tenth of the…

Jordan: Renewable Energy Project Coordinator

Jan 7, 2015 | Norwegian Refugee Council

NRC is planning to implement a project on replicable renewable energy to contribute towards meeting the renewable energy goals set by the Government of Jordan’s…

Sanctions for Peace in South Sudan

Jan 7, 2015 | Peter Biar Ajak

After about a year of on-off negotiations between the government of South Sudan and rebels led by its former vice president, Riek Machar, the two…

Liberia: FDA Under Watchful Eyes, Ears of Advocacy Groups in 2014: Nation’s Forest at Glance

Jan 7, 2015 | Edwin M. Fayia III, Liberian Observer

Liberia’s prime custodian of the forest sector, the Forestry Development Authority (FDA), started 2014 under the watchful eyes and ears of local and international advocacy…

Iraq/Kurdistan: NOC Oil Heading to Market Via Kurdistan

Jan 7, 2015 | Kamaran al-Najar, Patrick Osgood, and Ben Lando, Iraq Oil Report

Iraq's federal North Oil Company (NOC) has begun exporting Kirkuk crude for the first time since militants led by the so-called Islamic State (IS) bombed…

Syria: Yarmouk Camp Victim of Water Wars in Syria

Jan 7, 2015 | Aya Chebbi, Al Jazeera

The Syrian regime is using water as a tool of war in the Yarmouk camp, according to a recent report issued by the Palestinian League for Human…

Africa: Oil Prices and African Economies

Jan 7, 2015 | Abayomi Azikiwe, Global Research

During 2014 many western-based financial publications declared that the Federal Republic of Nigeria had surpassed the Republic of South Africa as the largest economy on…

Myanmar: Two Dead, 30 Missing After Rockslide at Myanmar Jade Mine

Jan 7, 2015 | Aung Hla Tun, Reuters

At least two people were killed and around 30 were missing on Wednesday after a mountain of rubble collapsed at a jade mine in northern…

Myanmar: Daunting Myanmar Mining Risks Keeps Investors to a Brave Handful

Jan 7, 2015 | South China Morning Post, Reuters

With abundant mineral wealth from jade and rubies to copper and coal, Myanmar ought to be looking forward to a mining boom as it opens…

Nigeria: Shell Agrees to Pay $83.5 Million for Oil Spills

Jan 7, 2015 | New York Times

The oil giant Shell agreed early Wednesday to pay a Nigerian fishing community 55 million pounds, or about $83.5 million, ending a three-year legal battle…

Somalia: Somalia Expels Chinese Firm for 'Illegal Mining'

Jan 7, 2015 | World Bulletin

A Chinese mining company has been ordered out of Somalia for allegedly conducting illegal mining activity and causing "public turmoil," the Somali government announced on…

"Livelihoods, Natural Resources, and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding" to be published in February

Jan 6, 2015 | ELI, UNEP, McGill University & University of Tokyo

The Environmental Law Institute, United Nations Environment Programme, McGill University, and the University of Tokyo are delighted to announce the completion of "Livelihoods, Natural Resources…

Year in Review: Environmental Peacebuilding in 2014

Jan 6, 2015 | ELI, UNEP, McGill University & University of Tokyo

In 2014, there was dramatic growth in the field of environmental peacebuilding.  We are pleased to share with you some highlights from the Environmental Peacebuilding…

Iraq: Majnoon Protesters Demand Jobs

Jan 6, 2015 | Ali Abu Iraq and Ben Lando, Iraq Oil Report

Demonstrators blocked roads near the Majnoon oil field over the past week, claiming that Royal Dutch Shell has reneged on promises to provide jobs."We went…

Myanmar: Myanmar Arrests More Than 100 foreigners for Illegal Logging

Jan 6, 2015 | Associated Press

The Myanmar army has arrested more than 100 foreigners and 20 Myanmar nationals for illegal logging near the Chinese border, the defense ministry said Tuesday.It…